Destination Confusion…

I can vouch for the awesomeness of the Cabo Surf Hotel!

In the end we paid the following to the hotel for 55 people:
$7/chair
$14/apps
$40/mexican buffet (food was AWESOME)
$42/four hours open bar (they give a free welcome drink and a free champagne toast to help stretch a 4 hour open bar to a 6 hour party!)
$5/cake
plus 14 bottles of wine but I forget the prices...like $30 each?
Add 25% to everything for tax and service (standard)

These were 2006 prices, so I don't know how much they have gone up for 2007, but Christa's numbers look about right.

As for your other concerns re: privacy

The beach is semi private because it is small and only encompasses the hotel. There are no other properties that use that beach (except some giant mansions...drool, I want to live in one!) However, it's a popular surf beach, so we found that we had a scattering of surfers, doggies, and other people throughout the day. The crowd was thin by the ceremony, but still a few diehard surfers. However, I totally did not notice them AT ALL and it never bothered me. Everyone who hangs out there is very chill. Lots of locals and regular tourists. No vendors or annoying people.

If you want to do business with them I would contact the hotel directly: Cabo Surf Hotel, beach resort, boutique hotel in Los Cabos with surfing, Baja diving and Cabo golf. - Armando will probably be the guy in charge. Although he can take a few days to reply, he is very nice and easygoing and should be able to answer your questions.

Also, my photos are here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t1650

you may also want to consider Marbella en la Playa. When we scouted it there wasn't anyone else on the beach (a very pretty beach but non-swimmable like most). The prices are VERY affordable - I've attached the menu they sent me in August.

 

But there are soome considerations - the rooms while very clean and seemingly comfortable are spacious but far from luxurious (though perfectly nice). I believe you can actually rent the entire hotel for a pretty reasonable fee if you wanted to. I mean it's not a resort or anything but it is a charming older hotel that will give you the privacy, the beach and the price you're looking for.

 

They were doing some construction when someone else was there (tasha or Christa maybe?) so you should ask them about their plans for construction in the future.

 

Also the place has TONS of stairs - this would not be a good place for anyone who is handi-capped or even a lot of small children - there aren't any elevators or ramps. Rooms start at about $89/night but some of them have more than one bedroom. A lot of my friends are staying here because it's close to the Hilton and it's affordable. You can see my pics of the place in my photo gallery... http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...p?do=view&g=35 Send me a PM if you'd like me to email you more pics!

 

There's a really lovely poolside area for the reception which is pretty cool.

 

On another note, the Sheraton's prices for food, drinks, cake etc. are rather high - it's an amazing property but they were the highest of all the places we went to see. You MAY be able to get away with a weddin gunder $10K but honestly I'm not so sure. I can see prices spiraling out of control pretty fast.

 

As for WIP all I can say is don't work with them! Ask TammyM - she hired and fired them. I started workign with them in the beginning but they were so expensive that I looked elsewhere... then I foudn this forum. Another thing you may want to consider (to save $$) is many hotels/resort have wedding coordinators. If you decide to go with a place that has a good one then just save yourself the money of hiring someone else. If however you go with one of these smaller hotels (Marbella, Cabo Surf, etc. then you will need a coordinator.

Janet...Great Pictures! Your wedding looks like it was sooooo much fun! I am going to put Cabo Surf on my site visit list for Feb. I think I've narrowed it down to Marbella, Cabo Surf, Fiesta Americana or a privte villa (which may be too pricy). Did you visit Marbella or FA? If so, what were your thoughts?

Has anyone actually done their wedding at Marbella en La Playa? If so, I'd like to get some feedback. I'm in contact with the managers and their prices are definitely more affordable, but I wonder how the service is? We're planning on having 100 people, which is coming out super expensive in the bigger resorts!